OS X and iOS: Spot the difference?

Looks like the lines are due to get ever more blurred between Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems.

OS X has been steadily moving towards iOS (described by Steve Jobs himself once as "the future") with Lion appearing to cement that love-in even more. And if it wants things like iCloud to work out, it's going to have to become even more streamlined according to one investment analyst.

Peter Misek from Jefferies and Co reckons hardware-wise, the MacBook Air will be the first to take the leap - switching to an A6 processor towards the end of next year or 2013.

Without that, he believes the OS experience from Cupertino will continue to be fragmented, and Misek also says the move would help with elements like licensing.

“We believe Apple is looking to merge iOS (iPhones/iPads) with OS X (Macs) into a single platform for apps and cloud services starting in 2012-13,” he is quoted as saying.

Interestingly, the analysts also reckon we won't see iPad 3 until the start of next year - quashing some rumours that it's due later this year (We were hoping fornext month).

And the iPhone 5 won't be released until NEXT YEAR! (That's based on the forthcoming model being an iPhone 4S).